An Edinburgh candidate for Holyrood who donated £25,000 to her party after her selection also donated a further £4,000 in 2020, according to the Electoral Commission.
Jane Alliston Pickard is the Scottish Liberal Democrats candidate in Edinburgh Southern, where she is running against Scottish Labour’s Daniel Johnson, who won the constituency in 2016 and 2021.
Ms Alliston Pickard is also second on the Scottish Liberal Democrat’s regional list for Edinburgh and Lothians East.
It was reported in March that Ms Alliston Pickard had donated £25,000 to the Scottish Liberal Democrats in November 2025, three months after her selection to the party in July.
When asked by Deadline News to comment on the donation and whether such a sum could help her rise through the party, Ms Alliston Pickard responded that her donation was money left over from her late father, explaining that it is “hard for a woman to get ahead in politics” and needed to fund a campaign.
She said: “It’s a case of putting your money where your mouth is really, and that’s the reality of it.”
The donation was recorded under the name “Jane P Alliston Pickard”, and had been received by the administrative unit in Scotland.
According to the Electoral Commission, another donation of £4000 to the Scottish Liberal Democrats was made in June 2020, under the name “Ms Jane Pickard” and received by the administrative unit in Edinburgh West.
The two sums total £29,000 in donations from Ms Alliston Pickard to the Scottish Liberal Democrats,
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on Ms Alliston Pickard’s part, but the sums make her one of the biggest donors to the party among Scottish Liberal Democrats candidates.
When asked for comment, Ms Alliston Pickard responded: “I said previously that I had tried to support other people in the party when they were standing. So, that was part of that, the donation ahead of an election.”
When asked why she did not mention the £4,000 donation when previously asked about her November 2025 donation, Ms Alliston Pickard responded: “I didn’t mention that donation because it’s absolutely nothing to do with my candidacy.
“That was in 2020, and the donation that I’ve made this year is in relation to the campaign that is ongoing.
“It’s sort of a separate issue. I did mention in that interview that I had in the past, supported other candidates, because I pointed out that how difficult it is to stand.
“The reality of electoral funding in this country and across the UK as a whole is that candidates need to go and find funding.”
Other candidates have been involved in large sum donations to their own parties.
Scottish Greens candidate Lorna Slater, who is running in Edinburgh Central, previously donated £18,297 to her party in two sums between December 2022 and October 2023.
